So I'm curious about where everyone else lives and how they find being vegan there. Do you have any vegan/veggie places? If not, what are the local restaurants like? Any recommendations? Where do you do most of your food shopping? What would you say to someone visiting?

I'm mainly just being nosey about where you all live [and planning where I'd like to visit], but I thought it might be a good idea for newbies too. I know when I google Northampton and vegan, there's not a lot out there - but now this thread will start to come up. So I will come back later and ramble about the excitement that is Northampton!

Edinburgh is great for shopping but kinda crepe for restaurants. We have Real Foods, which carries so much great stuff - including, at this time of year, canned pumpkin. And we have loads of the larger big box stores, which is great for getting different types of fruit and veg and some of the "free from" stuff (like those caramels at Sainsbury's - can't remember who makes them). But our choices for eating out are pretty limited. We don't have a single vegan restaurant, and a lot of the vegetarian ones aren't that vegan-friendly. Mike and I usually go to Glasgow when we want to eat at an all vegan place.

ETA - If other vegans ever visited me (which is rare), I would suggest Henderson's above any other veg restaurant for anything other than Indian. The problem we have is that the best places for vegan food in Edinburgh are Indian, and Mike doesn't like Indian food. But if you don't have a picky eater with you, there's always Kalpna, which is some of the best Indian food I've ever eaten.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

Edinburgh is great for shopping but kinda crepe for restaurants. We have Real Foods, which carries so much great stuff - including, at this time of year, canned pumpkin. And we have loads of the larger big box stores, which is great for getting different types of fruit and veg and some of the "free from" stuff (like those caramels at Sainsbury's - can't remember who makes them). But our choices for eating out are pretty limited. We don't have a single vegan restaurant, and a lot of the vegetarian ones aren't that vegan-friendly. Mike and I usually go to Glasgow when we want to eat at an all vegan place.

ETA - If other vegans ever visited me (which is rare), I would suggest Henderson's above any other veg restaurant for anything other than Indian. The problem we have is that the best places for vegan food in Edinburgh are Indian, and Mike doesn't like Indian food. But if you don't have a picky eater with you, there's always Kalpna, which is some of the best Indian food I've ever eaten.

I loved Henderson's when I was in Edinburgh, the cherry pie & the flapjack's with the chocolate dipping sauce at the bistro were SO good & I had a salad there which I actually loved & I'm not much of a salad person...and their homemade hummus was deeeelicious.

I also thought the baked potato shop was great & I loved the food at Bonsai too.

We have Terre a Terre if you're feeling fancy, Red Veg for fast food and Infinity Cafe, Iydea & WaiKikaMooKau for lunchy healthyish food. I've heard mixed things about Food for Friends but they don't have enough vegan options to tempt me when Terre a Terre is just around the corner.

Aloka have a mostly vegan pay by weight buffet & they've just opened a raw vegan restaurant upstairs. Pompoko is a little Japanese place with only two or three vegan options but they're cheap & delicious. I's pie's on Gardner Street does vegan sausage rolls, pasties & cakes. I think every coffee shop does soya milk but nowhere does coffee & hot drinks quite as well as Red Roaster, they're vegan hot chocolate is THE BEST. We also have a Shakeaway if you fancy a vegan milkshake.

There's a radical social centre called The Cowley Club which is all vegan & does very cheap lunches & dinner on most Thursday's. The George has apparently gotten more vegan friendly again but I'm still massively unimpressed with the manager's attitude towards vegans & I won't be going back there. VBites is just outa Brighton at the far end of Hove but if you want to eat a lotta Redwood foods products in spring / summer (when they're open) they're definitely worth the visit.

We have two all veggie vegan friendly Indian places, Bombay Aloo which is a buffet & Planet India which I've been told is cheap & delicious

We have Wagamama & Pho two very vegan friendly chain places, I'd recommend them both. We also have also Yo Sushi!, Las Iguanas & Giraffe which all have vegan options. There's also Cafe Nero which is pretty ethical for a coffee chain & does yummy vegan soya latte's.

For shopping we have Infinity Foods & Taj, there's also Vegetarian Shoes & two good Asian supermarkets. We also have Holland & Barrett and LUSH & chain places like M&S, Sainsburys & The Co-op are everywhere!

There's even a vegetarian B&B called Paskins Townhouse if you're looking for somewhere to stay that'll provide you with an awesome vegan breakfast.

Edinburgh is great for shopping but kinda crepe for restaurants. We have Real Foods, which carries so much great stuff - including, at this time of year, canned pumpkin. And we have loads of the larger big box stores, which is great for getting different types of fruit and veg and some of the "free from" stuff (like those caramels at Sainsbury's - can't remember who makes them). But our choices for eating out are pretty limited. We don't have a single vegan restaurant, and a lot of the vegetarian ones aren't that vegan-friendly. Mike and I usually go to Glasgow when we want to eat at an all vegan place.

ETA - If other vegans ever visited me (which is rare), I would suggest Henderson's above any other veg restaurant for anything other than Indian. The problem we have is that the best places for vegan food in Edinburgh are Indian, and Mike doesn't like Indian food. But if you don't have a picky eater with you, there's always Kalpna, which is some of the best Indian food I've ever eaten.

I loved Henderson's when I was in Edinburgh, the cherry pie & the flapjack's with the chocolate dipping sauce at the bistro were SO good & I had a salad there which I actually loved & I'm not much of a salad person...and their homemade hummus was deeeelicious.

I also thought the baked potato shop was great & I loved the food at Bonsai too.

I always forget about the Baked Potato Shop! I love that place! I haven't been in a while since I don't go up that way often and Mike doesn't like baked potatoes. But you can get a massive potato, and they do loads of hot and cold vegan options.

I've never been to Henderson's Bistro, just the restaurant. I might have to try to convince Mike to go there.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

I live in London so its pretty rad for veggie stuff - you just gotta hunt down all the good places. My immediate area is not really great, mostly fast food places, a ton of kebab shops, polish shops selling large amounts of dried meats and other such grossness. But then not too far afield are a few organic health oriented food shops which are great for specialty ingredients or local produce.

My fave restaurant I have eaten out at in London is http://www.mannav.com/, but that may change if I ever get round to going to SAF

_________________"Gee, that's interesting. I guess you can be intellectually gifted and still be morally bankrupt." - Daria Morgendorffer

Exeter is okay for vegans. It's no Brighton or London, but for a small city right down in the South West it could be worse.

There are no dedicated vegan restaurants, but our only vegetarian place Herbies is extremely vegan friendly and delicious. It does amazing salads and healthy, hearty 'classic vegetarian' food. The nut burger is a must, as are the falafel. The brownie is the best I have ever had, vegan or not! Huge portions and reasonable prices. The Plant is a small vegetarian cafe on the Cathedral Green. I haven't been here in ages but lots of my veggie friends seem to like it. They do a cracking vegan chocolate cake and there's always a vegan option in the lunch bar. I don't know why I don't go here very often. The Picturehouse cafe and bar has recently started offering Clive's Pies (made just down the road in South Devon!) and a vegan cake, but I haven't checked that out yet, that is something I need to do soon! There are a lot of curry houses that will cater for vegans (although I aven't been to any of them!). We also have Wagamamas and Giraffe.

We have three awesome independent health food shops that are all good for different things (my fave is Healthy Pulses because they are just so friendly!), as well as two Holland and Barretts. There are a few ethnic supermarkets in the city too. There's M&S and quite a few Co-Ops dotted around.

I can do Bristol and limited bits of Cornwall too unless there is anyone from there lurking who'd like to take care of business!

As everyone knows, Brighton is veggie heaven if you like eating out. Not just because it has a lot of vegetarian restaurants, but it also has the highest concentration of Japanese restaurants I've ever seen, all of which have good vegan stuff. Pompoko is lovely and cheap, but Murakasi has way better food for way more monies.

Lewes has its own tofu factory and one or two vegetarian restaurants, too. My favourite health food shop has just turned into another antique shop.

Both towns suffer from the Infinity Foods Curse: one wholesaler to rule them all. They just don't do a wide enough range. No beluga lentils, no gluten powder, high prices, patronising stares when you try to ask about anything. I just don't like them.

Corsham, however, has a lovely little health food shop where the staff know my name (they found me on their mailing list just to tell me that they got the day wrong for a delivery - so nice!) and order things in for me, even asking me if I want any gluten powder before Christmas as deliveries are chaotic. None of the cafés do soy milk (even the one my boyfriend runs - two people have asked for it in the last month, I was one of them), but milk ruins coffee anyway... mmm... coffee...

Bath has a vegetarian pub with very few vegan options, but it's a nice enough pub. There's also Demuths, which is a good veggie restaurant (if a little on the "all you need is carbs" side of cooking). There are a few health-food shops in Bath, and a food co-op, which is expensive and utterly unremarkable.

All of the restaurants round here have had no problems with me gracing them with my presence. Jack's at Hartham Park is very good, and good value (£15/head, plus booze).

Hmm... I lived in Hamburg for a bit, too. My diet was 50% felafel. It was good.

Chester, my other recent place of residence, was pretty crepe. Coffee Crusade is the best café in town, and the owner started putting more and more vegan cakes on the menu the more we went there, which was fantastic.

_________________Moon - "This is the best recipe in the history of recipes forever."

As everyone knows, Brighton is veggie heaven if you like eating out. Not just because it has a lot of vegetarian restaurants, but it also has the highest concentration of Japanese restaurants I've ever seen, all of which have good vegan stuff. Pompoko is lovely and cheap, but Murakasi has way better food for way more monies.

Do you mean Murasaki on Montpelier Place? I had no idea they were vegan friendly, thanks for the recommendation! Is there anything unmissable on the menu?

I also forgot Brighton now has Pizza Face who deliver vegan cheese (Cheezly!) pizza & garlic bread (with cheese or just garlicky oil) right to your door. They even have Booja Booja ice cream.

Stoke is peas poor for anyone eating out, not just vegans. So at least I don't need to be envious because it's the same for everyone. But there are 2 amazing South Indian restaurants, owned by the same people, not veggie but very vegan friendly. We just go there or I cook.

I LOVE Dough dairy free pizza (i'm aware i have mentioned this before but it's sooo true). We also have odd/er/est for vegan brekkie, 8th day (altho i'm not a fan), Earth cafe, Oklahoma. This 'n' That curry cafe, Tampopo, Wagamama, Ning and Tai Wu all have vegan options.Takeaway/fast food - Bar Burritto (the one on Deansgate is best), the falafel place in the Village (i think its called Safar) and Falafel in Rusholme.

If you're lucky/rich enough to live in Chorlton (South Manchester) there is the wonderful Unicorn vegan co-op which stocks many tasty foods (altho a policy to not stock anything with sugar so i have to feed my chocolate soya milk addiction elsewhere) and has a brilliant hotdog stand outside at weekends.Yeopan's for the takeaway and there's also a new place opened up called On The Corner which has lots of vegan options and cupcakes sat along side vinyl and cds to browse thru (sounds heavenly but i've still to try it).

All this talk of yummy food makes me want to dig my car out of the snow and drive over there now!

But i think you just have to look. I moved out of the city recently to a little town near Bolton and one of the greasy spoons does a great veg breakfast (no egg for me thanks!) x

I also forgot Brighton now has Pizza Face who deliver vegan cheese (Cheezly!) pizza & garlic bread (with cheese or just garlicky oil) right to your door. They even have Booja Booja ice cream.

Pizza Face! We had food from here when we stayed with our awesome friends and oh my! I had the basic veggie one but added artichokes (I love artichokes so hard!). One of my mouth's highlights of 2010 for definite. Tom had the mushroom one and still talks about it.

I also forgot Brighton now has Pizza Face who deliver vegan cheese (Cheezly!) pizza & garlic bread (with cheese or just garlicky oil) right to your door. They even have Booja Booja ice cream.

Pizza Face! We had food from here when we stayed with our awesome friends and oh my! I had the basic veggie one but added artichokes (I love artichokes so hard!). One of my mouth's highlights of 2010 for definite. Tom had the mushroom one and still talks about it.

I get the mushroom one every time! SO delicious!

I just found out there's a takeaway called Oriental Chinese on Lewes road that delivers & has vegan mock meat options...occasionally I think about moving outa Brighton & then more awesome places appear!

I used to think my town sucked for veggies, but actually it's not so bad. We have a few chain places like wagamamas, pizza express, bella italia and bar estilo, all of which have veggie options. There's also a couple of indian, chinese, thai ... places that are veggie friendly and we have a fab tapas bar that will cater for vegans too.

There's also a holland & barrett that's fairly well stocked.

About 20 mins away is guildford and they have a great health food shop that sells loads of vegan stuff including tempeh and decent tofu. Guildford has a shakeaway as well! :0)

Not good, I was served fish at a christmas party Friday night after asking for a vegan option! It's probably not that bad and I am just still sulking really after starving the whole night! We do have one vegetarian restaurant which has a few vegan options on their menu

We don't have many of the supermarkets you guys have, so most of the stuff I see you all talking about I can't buy. We just have Co-op and M&S. Im in the Channel Islands

If you're in Brighton with kids I can strongly recommend WaiKikaMooKau. Their vegan kids meals are great, just the right size and my 2 (7 and 3) loved them and the vegan milkshakes they got. The 3 adults who ate there enjoyed it too and it was pretty reasonable, I think it was £27 or so for 2 kids and me for hot meals and drinks.

ETA we also had a pizza delivery from Pizza Face while we were in Brighton and the boys were mega excited that you could get vegan pizza (with vegan cheese!) delivered to your door. I thought it was a bit pricey (why charge extra for vegan cheese? It's no more expensive than cow cheese) but we all enjoyed it and would eat it again!

I judge whether or not a place is good for vegans based on whether or not Jojo has blogged about it. I switch between Bournemouth and bath due to uni, and Bath is a lot more veg friendly and is near Bristol, however I never run out of places to eat in Bournemouth either.

Alley Cafe is open most all day and does a fantastic fry up, complete with a decent tofu scramble. All of their desserts are vegan and they do the best tofu cheesecake I've had. Squeek is open in the evenings (booking is necessary, as they need to ensure that they have the correct items on hand for vegans). Service can be slow if it's busy, but it's worth the wait. They normally have something yummy with smoked tofu on the menu and their ice cream cake is wonderful. The menu is veggie on one side and vegan on the other. Annie's Burger Shack in the kitchen of The Old Angel has more than 40 types of burgers, plus hotdogs and nachos which can all be veggie'd and veganized. Thailand No 1 has a delicious vegetarian set meal with awesome fried tofu and huge portions. Tamatanga serves a good vegetable thali that's so big I've never known anyone to eat it all. The Natural Food Company has a cold counter thats full of veggie and vegan sweet and savoury pastries that can be warmed up for you on the spot. The Screaming Carrot is a bit out of the city centre but is an ace bakery - I recommend the Thai Red Bean Pasties. Veggies at The Sumac Centre (again, a bit out of the city centre) do great pizzas and cakes.

There's a guide here - http://www.vegan-nottingham.co.uk/. It's a bit out of date as Pop My Cherry cakes no longer operate in Nottingham - instead we have Shut Yer Cakehole who make all sorts of lovely cookies, cakes, desserts and pies and it's run by me :)